There’s a lot more to bone broth than you may think! It is a wonderful food source, packed with nutrients, vitamins and essential minerals.

Bone broth has glucosamine, hyaluronic acid and chondroitin, which are crucial for joint health. There are also electrolytes, calcium, magnesium and phosphorous, amino acids, collagen, and gelatin. All of these serve the body in unique ways and are beneficial to our health.

Some of the health benefits of bone broth include:

• Helps to heal a leaky gut
• Aids sleep
• Boosts our immune system
• Supports skin, nail, hair, teeth and joint health
• Aids detoxification
• Supports adrenal health

If you are interested in reading more about the health benefits of bone broth, you might like to read this blog here.

Why include bone broth during the 4 Phase Fat Loss Protocol?

Aside from the benefits of bone broth for general health, it is an awesome food to include when you are on the Fat Loss Protocol! Here’s why:

1. It relieves hunger

Bone broth is rich, hearty, and satisfying. When you drink a cup, you’ll feel like you’ve eaten a full meal. As a result, you won’t experience cravings – this is an awesome benefit especially when you may have cut down drastically on your food intake on the Fat Loss Protocol.

2. It aids detoxification

Bone broth contains sulphur, potassium, and glycine, which can help the body to eliminate toxins in the liver, stomach, and intestine. Bone broth has proven itself to be potent detoxification agent as it:

• Helps the digestive system to expel waste
• Enhances the liver’s ability to cleanse the body

3. It helps to heal the gut

There is no denying it, for long-term health and vitality we need a rock solid gut! Your gut is home to trillions of microbes that we call your microbiome. It is easy to think of it as its own ecosystem – one that can be in balance or out of balance. If it is in balance, you would have a wide diversity of good microbes and very few bad ones. However, when your gut is out of balance it can mean trouble – bad microbes can gain control of your gut, producing chemicals that cause inflammation. Bone broth is key for healing and repairing the gut wall. It restores the mucous layer, feeds our enterocytes (the cells of the intestinal lining) and encourages a healthy microbiome.

You can read more about gut health here and here.

4. It can aid weight loss

Recent research has shown that obese people have more of a certain type of bacteria called Firmicutes and less of another type called Bacteroidetes in their digestive tracts. The higher proportion of Firmicutes is believed to lead to a higher number of calories extracted from food. Therefore, a higher ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes has become one of the markers of obesity. Bone broth is a good source of L-glutamine, an essential amino acid (building block of protein) necessary for the body and gut health. L-glutamine was found in studies to reduce the Firmicutes in the gut and, therefore, aid in weight loss.

How to make bone broth

The process of making bone broth is oh so simple! Get a large stock pot or use your slow cooker and slowly simmer animal bones and vegetables (carrots, onions, celery) and your choice of herbs for anywhere between 4 to 48 hours. (When on Phase 2 of the Fat Loss Protocol use vegetables that are on your free foods lists). Next strain the broth and place it in a glass container in the fridge. During Phase 2 of the Fat Loss Protocol, allow the broth to cool completely in the fridge and then skim off any fat from the surface. The broth can be used as a soup base, a savoury beverage or added as a flavour bomb to any of your meals….Give it a try, it’s delicious and nourishing on a cellular level!

If you want to make it even easier, or you are after a broth that can be taken on your travels, you might like to try some Changing Habits Broth. Our broth is made from organic grass-fed beef or organic free range chickens and organic vegetables. The bones are simmered for a minimum of 24 hours for chicken and 48 hours for the beef to allow the minerals to be extracted from the bones. No additives, preservatives or colours are added. The broth is then slow-dried into granules to make it easy to transport. So, wherever you are, you can enjoy the benefits of broth!

The Naked Beef Broth is a perfect addition for Phase 2 of the Fat Loss Protocol  – made from grass fed beef, apple cider vinegar and filtered water with all fat removed.

Hopefully, I have inspired you to add some bone broth to your diet and to give making it a go! If you do, please share your experiences below.